973.7L63   Cormican ,  P.  J. 
H2C813t     (Patrick  J.) 


A  tribute  to  Abraham 
Lincoln. 


LINCOLN  ROOM 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 


I. 

MnmU 

A  ufribut*  tn  Abraham  IGutrnln 


i. 


Son  of  the  forest  primeval, 

Unspoiled  by  the  arts  of  the  time; 
Destined  by  God  for  a  leader, 

And  fashioned  for  duty  sublime; 
Straight  from  the  workshop  of  nature, 

And   fresh   from   the  virginal   wild; 
Child  with  the  heart  of  a  hero, 

And  hero  with  heart  of  a  child: 
Accept  this  tribute  of  praise 
From  a  lover  of  woodland  ways. 


II. 

Admiring  the  grandeurs  of  nature, 

And  growing  to  be  what  he  saw; 
Impartial  as  sunshine  to  all  men, 

And  true  as  a  physical  law; 
As  gentle  as  dewdrops  on  roses, 

Yet  strong  as  a  mountainous  wave; 
But  not  too  strong  to  be  human, 

Nor  yet  too  weak  to  be  brave. 
In  stature  and  character  grand, 
He  was  prince  of  a  desolate  land. 


III. 

When    there's   question    of    fashioning 
heroes, 

And  work  for  a  hero  to  do; 
When  it's  time  for  removing  abuses, 

And  building  a  nation  anew; 
When    there's   need    of   rebinding   the 
Union 

By  unbinding  the  bonds  of  the  slave, 
Give  me  a  product  of  nature, 

Intelligent,  honest  and  brave. 
Give  me  a  man  with  a  heart, 
Untutored  by  diplomat  art. 


IV. 

Better  the  song  of  the  robin 

Than  the  booming  of  guns  from  the 
fort; 
Better  the  breath  of  the  meadows 

Than  the  perfume  of  ladies  at  court; 
Better  the  sigh  of  the  pine  tree 

Than    the    laugh    of    the    vain    and 
the  gay; 
Better  are  pioneer  fences 

Than  lackeys  in  gaudy  array, 
When  the  Ship  of  State  is  aground, 
And  a  pilot  has  to  be  found. 


Thou  wert  mocked  by  imperial  writers, 

O  martyr!    to  furnish  a  sneer; 
Described  as  unkempt  and  ungainly, 

As  shambling,  uncultured  and  queer; 
Deceived  by  the  underhand  methods 

Of  foes  who  paraded  as  friends; 
Who  longed  to  dissever  the  Union 

For  selfish,  contemptible  ends: 
Such  was  thy  help  from  abroad — 
Diplomacy,  statecraft  and  fraud. 


VI. 

Who  but  the  bravest  of  heroes 

Could  face  such  an  army  of  foes? 
Who,  but  a  son  of  the  martyrs, 

Could      endure      such      unspeakable 
woes? 
Who,  but  a  large-hearted  leader, 

Could  forgive  so   much  and   forget? 
Who,  but  a  lover  of  freedom, 

Could     incur     such     a     burdensome 
debt? 
O  hero  of  heroes,  indeed! 
Be  with  us  still  in  our  need. 


VII. 

Throughout  that  deplorable  conflict, 
When     the    brightest     of    prospects 
were  bad; 

When  even  the  hopeful  were  hopeless, 
And  even  the  bravest  were  sad; 

When  the  canopied  smoke  of  the  battle 
Converted  the  day  into  night, 

Excluded  the  vision  of  Heaven, 
And  shifted  the  aspect  of  right; 

When  gloom  and  despair  were  abroad, 

Lincoln  relied  upon  God. 


VIII. 

He  died  for  the  doing  of  duty, 

But  his  death  was  a  glorious  birth; 
The  birthday  of  manhood  and  freedom 

For    the    slave-holding    nations    of 
earth. 
He  is  dead,  but  he  liveth  forever 

In  the  lives  and  the  vision  of  men; 
We  have  not  encountered  his  equal, 

Nor  shall  we  encounter  again. 
He  was  human  yet  almost  divine, 
And  his  tomb  is  a  national  shrine. 

P.  J.  CORMICAX,  S.  J., 

Georgetown  University,  D.  C. 
Feb.  12,  1923. 

sty 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign 


http://archive.org/details/tributetoabrahamOOcorm 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILL1NOIS-URBANA 


3  0112  002244504 


